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Direct E9X M3 supercharger comparisons are hard to come by. When one person wants to compare a kit to another and posts a question on a forum the answer to that question will differ based on what forum the person is asking it on instead of the actual technical merits of the kit. You ask the question on a forum where tuner X has X installed kits X amount of people say it's the best. Person Y chimes in that they have Y option and it all degenerated into an X versus Y flame fest with no answers, lot's of insults, and dynochart/sales number racing.

Well this is actual racing. Two supercharger kits for the S65 V8 and both with centrifugal blowers. Both have different tunes, different intake manifolds, but roughly the same boost pressure at 6 PSI which will vary with supporting mods (exhaust, manifold, etc) but this is about as close to an apples to apples real world comparison people are going to get.

The first video is an inside view but the single angle does not give a good view of where the other M3 is in relation. It clearly shows the black (Evolve) supercharged M3 in front though. The second video gives a better idea and is an external view although from a distance. The race is close, as it should be, with the Evolve car taking the win, as it should.

Why? The ESS-Tuning kit is Vortech V3si based which is a great blower that offers great peak power. The Evolve Engineering kit uses a Rotrex C-38 based blower with a different impeller design that offers greater mid-range. At 6 psi, the V3si is not at the efficiency range to show its top end CFM airflow advantage over the Rotrex blower. At this power level and boost level, on the stock engine internals, the Rotrex seems to be better matched to the motor offering greater area under the curve. Peak dyno figures do not tell the whole story as the race illustrates.

Additionally, keep in mind there are two skill levels of tuning at work here. The Evolve car is partially designed to showcase the Evolve kit in the United States. Regarding the tuning skill at work, Evolve has shown the ability to improve on ESS tunes. The results linked in the previous sentence are from a third party but show a difference in skill level.

Evolve is based in the UK and has a leg up in that market and more supercharger kits in that market than anyone else. ESS has had their kit on the market in the USA longer. Regardless, sales figures do not equate to performance. They equate to marketing on certain forums. Both are great supercharger kits and the difference in all honesty comes down to a drivers race. How they achieve their performance and what the cars are like to drive including what you get for what you pay should be the deciding factor.

A lot of words for a short simple race video (longer race would be preferred also not on what appeared to be a slick track surface) but when it comes to M3 supercharger kits the cars should really be doing more talking. That has not happened. It's a shame marketing and certain websites that care more about the advertisers do such a disservice to genuine information.

The tuning of evolve is really what people should see as a huge plus. I would never want to slap a cookie cutter tune and kit on my 60k+ m3. Tuning is everything, and drivability is sooo important . LM, I'd love to take a ride in your car so I can see the difference from my ride in it with the ess kit.

The tuning of evolve is really what people should see as a huge plus. I would never want to slap a cookie cutter tune and kit on my 60k+ m3. Tuning is everything, and drivability is sooo important . LM, I'd love to take a ride in your car so I can see the difference from my ride in it with the ess kit.

Anyone else notice the ess car shifts right at the start? Perhaps an early shift induced by tire slip?

shifts at the start? what timestamp? i see that one car makes more power earlier and smoother and pulls away hard when it shifts.. but nothing to indicate a bad run..

i mean, I have a potent combination on my car-
an Evolve boosted S65 with early and smooth boost, a Defiv Lockdown kit that produces firm strong shifts every-time, and nice 18" lightweight wheels.. I did more with a 6psi ESS 550 kit than most do with an ESS 600, and this Evolve 6 PSI kit just rapes it in every comparison. there's nothing wrong with an honorable loss

They will all be close. If you go with a Vortech T-Trim it will move a little more air up top and have more potential. The Vortech stock internal kits will all be very similar depending on options, fuel, tune, etc.

shifts at the start? what timestamp? i see that one car makes more power earlier and smoother and pulls away hard when it shifts.. but nothing to indicate a bad run..

i mean, I have a potent combination on my car-
an Evolve boosted S65 with early and smooth boost, a Defiv Lockdown kit that produces firm strong shifts every-time, and nice 18" lightweight wheels.. I did more with a 6psi ESS 550 kit than most do with an ESS 600, and this Evolve 6 PSI kit just rapes it in every comparison. there's nothing wrong with an honorable loss

Have you reviewed the Defiv lockdown kit? Curious about this. I stiffened things up with urethane bushings, and am curious if this made shifts genuinely sharper for you. Did you have stock bushings pre install?